Chafee calls 38 Studios assets 'junk'

CRANSTON, R.I. —

Rhode Island Gov. Lincoln Chafee said Thursday that several of the video games under development by Curt Schilling's now defunct 38 Studios company were "junk."

Last week, the receiver for the bankrupt company attempted to auction off some of the intellectual property remaining from Schilling's company, including several new video games that were in development.

But the receiver said no acceptable bids were received.

During a taping of NBC 10's "10 News Conference" program, Chafee said he was not surprised at the results of the auction.

"It's a lot of junk," Chafee said, referring to the video games.

"Unfortunately," Chafee added, "I wish it was successful."

Chafee said he was less concerned about finding out exactly how a risky deal like the 38 Studios deal got approved and would rather focus on recovering as much money as he can for the state.

Chafee has agreed to pay off the estimated $100 million in moral obligation bonds the state is left holding from the bankruptcy.

Last year, the General Assembly had to pay out more than $2 million as the state's first payment on the bonds. But next year, Chafee will have to ask the General Assembly for more than $12 million for the 2014 payment.